Living Snapshots
by belivetsdimples
Summary: A collection of minifics featuring intimate moments from Carol and Therese's life together.
1. Family Photoshoot

"Carol!" There was a soft knock at the door. "Carol, are you ready?"

"Yes! Just give me a moment," Carol called out from the bathroom. Therese smiled at the hint of exasperation in her voice.

A couple of minutes later Carol opened the door, lit cigarette in hand. "What do you think?"

"Oh, Carol," Therese sighed. She marveled at her flowing emerald dress and elegantly curled hair. The smoke from her cigarette swirled around in front of her, giving her an almost ethereal look, as if she were a dream.

"I'm going to take your reaction as a positive." Carol smiled coyly and moved closer to Therese before kissing her softly on the mouth.

Today, her photographer would be taking photos of her and Rindy. The photos were to act as a peace offering to Harge, but really Carol longed to have more evidence of her daughter in her life. For the past few months, Harge had been allowing her supervised visits, never leaving her alone with Rindy for more than fifteen minutes at a time. And even at that, he was always tense around her, seeming to sense Therese's quiet presence throughout the apartment, without him actually seeing her or even truly knowing she lived there. The last time he had stopped by with Rindy, he noticed Therese's camera and film on the kitchen counter.

"So, how is your shop girl?" He had asked, the slightest hint of animosity was present in his tone.

"Therese," Carol had said, pointedly. "She is doing well." And that was all that was said as Rindy colored in one of her new drawings.

Now, in front of her, Therese was smiling widely, her dimples warming Carol's heart. Yes, Therese is well indeed, she thought. She reached out and gently touched Therese's fingers, which were wrapped around the lens of her camera. "Are we going to take these photos or just stare into each other's eyes all afternoon?"

Therese snorted and playfully slapped Carol's hand away. "I'm sorry that I find you so wonderful." Carol laughed and watched as Therese walked toward the living room, where Rindy was sat quietly on the couch, flipping through a picture book Harge had bought for her.

"Hey there, are you ready to take some pretty pictures with Mommy?" Therese asked, kneeling down to be at eye level with the small girl.

"Mmhm," Rindy hummed in response. "Mommy said that you're a very good photographer," she said, stumbling over the last word.

"Oh, well that was very kind of her to say." Therese smiled and looked behind her at Carol, who was leaning against the doorframe, inhaling the last of her cigarette.

Carol watched as Therese and her daughter talked a little more, and she found herself grinning widely at the two of them. Her angel and her special girl in the same room. In her apartment. In her life. Bringing her more happiness than she could have ever dreamed all those months ago after the injunction, the lawyers, the psychiatrist. Right here, was a moment that she would keep in her heart forever. It was the beginning of her once unattainable happily-ever-after.


	2. The Gift of Film

"The f-stops tell you how much light is being let in through the lens and it also affects the depth of field whi—"

"Sorry, Therese—honey, you lost me," Carol said, and reached for her cigarette case. They had been going at this for the past half hour. Carol had asked Therese a couple of weeks ago to give her a mini lesson on how to take photos, because she wanted more pictures of Therese around the house. Therese had excitedly agreed, thrilled to be able to share her passion with the woman she loved.

However, it was proving to be quite the chore. Of course, Carol was fascinated by Therese's knowledge of cameras and she truly wanted to learn how to use the damn thing, but there was just so many different settings that it seemed as though she would never be able to take a good photo. She felt doomed to never be able to take a photo that truly captured Therese's youthful, innocent beauty.

"I'm sorry, Carol." Therese gently grabbed the camera from Carol and looked down, embarrassed. "I'm not used to teaching this… I sort of just—I taught myself and I read a lot about it. No formal classes."

The older woman was suddenly reminded of their first meeting, Therese behind a counter, shy and young and eager to please. She may be older, Carol thought, but that shy girl is still there, underneath it all.

"It's okay, love." Carol wrapped her arms around Therese and pulled her close. "I must not have the talent for this sort of thing."

"Didn't you once say that talent is something people tell you that you have?" Therese mumbled, disappointed by her inability to teach.

"Well, you haven't raved about my photos before now, have you?" Carol asked, smiling into Therese's hair.

"No, I guess not." The mood lightened at that, and Therese hugged Carol just a little tighter.

A couple weeks later Therese stopped by the furniture store with a wrapped box in hand. Seeing that Carol was busy with a customer, she took the time to tour the shop and appreciate the pieces Carol had so clearly picked out. There was a subtle elegance to them, and Therese wasn't sure whether the furniture was that way before, or if Carol had added it with a touch of her hand, as she seemed to do with everything in their apartment.

She was admiring a particularly elaborate lamp when she felt a light touch on her arm. "What do you think?" Carol asked, leaning ever so slightly into Therese.

"I think it's beautiful. Where did you find it?"

"Oh, some old couple was cleaning out their storage. Said this lamp had been in their family for years, but it was time for it to go on to someone else." Carol paused, noticing the box tucked under Therese's arm. "What's this?"

Therese's face suddenly brightened and she handed the box to the blonde woman. "It's for you!"

"What? You didn't have to get me anything…" Carol took the box from her, their fingers brushing against one another's as she did so.

"I think you'll like it."

Carol slowly unwrapped the gift to reveal a box with an image of a young man and woman smiling and the words 'where there's fun there's a snapshot' printed on the front.

"It's an easy to use camera! Danny told me about it." Carol remained silent, so Therese decided to elaborate. "He said all you have to do is look through the viewfinder and press the shutter. I've seen some sample photos and they all turned out very nice."

Carol lifted her gaze from the box and looked at Therese, her eyes shone with unshed tears. "This is the most… thoughtful gift I've ever received." She exhaled loudly, and lurched forward to hug Therese tightly in thanks.

"Oh, you're welcome, Carol." She relaxed into her embrace momentarily, before remembering that they were in a public space.

Carol seemed to remember at the same time and pulled away quickly, glancing back at the storefront before looking at the camera box in her hands. "I will thank you more… appreciatively, later this evening." Therese blushed furiously and turned back to the lamp.

"I'll see you later," Carol said casually, a smile in her voice, and walked back to the front of the store.


	3. Carol's Hands

Therese was fascinated, enthralled by Carol's hands. She caught herself staring at them when Carol lit her cigarettes, her fingers curved around the flame to shield it from the wind, the light from the flame illuminating her skin in hues of red and orange. She found herself captivated by them when Carol talked animatedly with her in bed, her hands inspiring words and images in the air as she described how a young gentleman tried to sell her an "appallingly dilapidated shit-brown" leather couch for nearly three hundred dollars. Therese cherished the moments in public where Carol would discretely caress her hand when they were strolling through the park, no one paying them any mind. The touch of Carol's hand to hers would alight her whole body with joy and contentment, as though hundreds of fireflies were being released, finally free to irradiate the world with their light, in the same way Therese felt free to display her happiness. With the feel of Carol's fingers intertwining with hers, the stars in the sky shone brighter, constellations appeared before her, as though the connecting of their hands brought on the unity of space and time.

Therese loved Carol, with every cell in her body. There were lazy Sunday mornings where Therese traced her fingers along the rise of Carol's cheekbones, the arch of her eyebrows, the bowed curve of her lips, the swell of her breasts. And as she did this, Carol would gaze into her eyes with a palpable intensity, her expression filled with reverence and adoration that was noticeable in the way that the corners of her mouth quirked up ever so slightly; and how her nostrils flared when she gasped as Therese stroked a particularly sensitive part of her body.

"Carol," Therese would whisper like a prayer, her partner's name rolling off her tongue and into the morning air. And Carol would hum in response and reach her hand up to caress Therese's face, to brush a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"You're beautiful," Carol would say, just as quietly and with such awe and wonderment Therese couldn't help but think that Carol had lived in a desert all her life until this moment; and as she laid in bed with the light filtering through the blinds of their bedroom, she was seeing the ocean for the first time, in all its power and allure.

"I love you." Therese would scooch closer to Carol and begin to kiss her softly, slowly. The feeling of Carol's hands on her face, her neck, in her hair, gave her a sense of floating on clouds. She felt most at peace in those moments, and she would pull back slowly from Carol's mouth, and reach for Carol's hand and clutch it tightly, feeling eternal.


	4. Therese Moves In

A/N: This chapter takes place before the previous three.

Therese was officially moving in today, which made Carol incredibly nervous. They had already discussed everything there was to discuss: Therese had made it clear that she didn't want to become too dependent on Carol, and that she wanted to double the guest bathroom as a darkroom. The living room was already filled with boxes labeled "clothes", "film", "photo paper", "books", and "bed sheets". Carol paced around the boxes, anxiously glancing toward the door any time she heard the sound of keys in the hallway. She could just imagine Therese hobbling down the hall, holding two boxes close to her hip as she shuffled through her coat pockets trying to find the key she had received yesterday. During her musings, Carol made her way to the window and gazed out at the street, scanning the area for one special brunette. As she leaned against the window frame, she recalled the conversation she and Therese had last week over dinner.

"Therese, you know that I will give you whatever you ask for," Carol had said as she reached for her cigarette lighter.

"I know, and I thank you so much for that, Carol. It's just that—" Therese paused and her brow knit together as she regarded Carol thoughtfully. "It's just that… I know what I want now."

Carol gazed deeply into Therese's eyes and couldn't help but recognize the growth in them. Therese no longer looked at her with complete adoration; there was a guardedness about her, and Carol frowned, knowing she had caused it. Therese had grown tremendously in the months they were apart; and although they saw one another more frequently now, Therese had yet to fully relax in Carol's presence. In the few times she had visited the apartment, they never gave each other more than a tender embrace or a kiss on the cheek. Carol sensed that Therese wanted more, in the way she hugged just a little more tightly before letting go and in the way she caressed Carol's neck when she kissed her cheek before she left.

Therese was much more cautious now, and Carol's heart clenched as she remembered the girl who cried in her car, calling herself selfish through her tears. "Well, what is it that you want?" Carol asked, putting her cigarette to her lips.

"I want to be free. I—I want to have the room to become the woman that I want to be," Therese paused to take a sip from her wine glass, "I want to know that… if for some reason you leave me again, I will know who I am without you."

Carol placed her cigarette in the ash tray and slowly reached for Therese's hand across the table, not caring that they were in public, because in this moment feeling Therese's fingers against hers was worth more than any reputation. "Therese, I promise that I will not leave you again." Therese began to protest but Carol squeezed her hand and continued, "I understand that you want autonomy. That was something that was severely lacking in my marriage to Harge. I will allow you to grow, and I will help you in any way I can. If you let me."

Therese regarded Carol for a long moment. Then, suddenly, she turned her hand over and clutched Carol's hand tightly. "Yes. I'd very much like to live with you, Carol."

"Well, that's that." She smiled widely at Therese and held onto her hand a fraction of a second longer than appropriate before letting go.

"Actually, not quite. I would like to use the guest bathroom as a darkroom," Therese said, sheepishly.

Carol couldn't help but throw back her head in laughter. "Of course, darling."

The sound of the front door unlocking snapped Carol out of her reverie. She hurried to the center of the living room, and was in the middle of nervously adjusting her skirt and hair when the door opened to reveal Therese, looking incredibly fine in a dark blue skirt and cream colored blouse with her camera hanging from a strap around her neck.

Therese bent down and lifted up a box by her feet. "There's one more box at the door. Would you mind carrying it in?"

Carol shook her head, picked up the box that was labeled "photos" and moved to place it by the rest of Therese's possessions before shutting the door. Therese had already set her camera down on the coffee table and was sat on the couch, looking at Carol expectantly.

"You look cozy," Carol said, making her way over to sit beside Therese.

"I'm very cozy." For the first time in months, she seemed completely comfortable in Carol's presence. Amidst the clutter of all the boxes, the unpleasant tension that had existed between the two of them began to dissipate.

Carol turned toward Therese on the couch and reached out to stroke her cheek. Her heart swelled as Therese's eyes fluttered closed. She looked absolutely breathtaking; there was no furrow in her brow, and her face radiated a blissful warmth that Carol had so dearly missed. When Therese opened her eyes, her gaze locked onto Carol's mouth for what seemed like an eternity. Carol ran her thumb over Therese's lips and watched as the younger woman's face transformed into that dimpled smile she loved so much. Therese placed her hand on Carol's waist, and closed the distance between them, touching their lips together tenderly. As she ran her hands over Carol's back, Carol couldn't help but think that this was the beginning of their perpetual sunrise.


	5. The Library

Therese absolutely adored going to the library. The smell of old books, the quiet calmness, the dim lighting; it made her feel safe and protected in a different way from the red dimness of her darkroom on Madison Avenue. As comforting as her workspace was, she sometimes missed the quiet company that Carol provided. The space was much too small for more than one person; and the one time that she managed to convince Carol to join her in the photo developing process, she had ended up getting fixer all over her skirt because Carol just couldn't keep her hands to herself.

As Therese gathered her belongings into a beautiful leather satchel Carol had bought her for her birthday, she heard Carol rifling through the kitchen cabinets and grumbling to herself. She caught a word or two from the living room, something about "that damn mug" and "I'm not old enough to be so damn forgetful". Therese smiled to herself and picked up the turquoise mug half-filled with day old coffee from the side table.

"Therese, have you seen my—" Carol stopped short as she rounded the corner and saw that damn mug wrapped in Therese's hands. "You're a star, you know that?" Her eyes shifted to the leather bag slung over her shoulder. "Where are you headed off to?" She asked, gesturing to Therese's attire.

"I'm going to the library." Therese moved toward Carol to kiss her softly and hand her the mug. "Dannie told me there's a book of photographs by Berenice Abbott that he thinks I should check out."

"Oh." Carol's mouth turned down ever so slightly into a frown. She reached out to stroke Therese's cheek and tuck an errant strand of hair behind her ear. "I was hoping you would like to spend the afternoon with me here at the house."

Therese's heart clenched at Carol's disheartened tone. It was in these moments where Carol showed how vulnerable she truly is that made Therese want to wrap her in her arms and make her feel safe and loved and wanted. She leaned into Carol's touch and turned her head to kiss the inside of her palm. "Come with me, then. I want to share my favorite spot with you."

Carol beamed at the suggestion. "That sounds wonderful." She slowly leaned forward to place a kiss to the tip of Therese's nose. "But let me have my morning coffee first." She glanced at the inside mug and grimaced at the sight of day-old coffee. "Here I am, always telling Rindy to put her dishes in the sink, and I can't even do it myself."

"You know, when I was a young girl, I always imagined what it would be like to kiss someone in the library," Carol whispered nonchalantly as she thumbed through a catalogue featuring antique furniture sets.

"Carol!" Therese's face grew hot and she smacked her lover's arm. They had been in the library for a little over an hour, and somehow Carol had become increasingly salacious with each passing moment. About ten minutes ago, she had pressed herself flush against Therese's back with the excuse of "returning a book to its proper place" on a shelf above her head.

"What?" Carol's expression was impassive, except for the glint of mischief in her eye and the slight quirk of her brow. "Are you telling me that all those days you spent in your boarding school library as a young girl, you never once thought about being pushed against the stacks and—" Carol looked up from her magazine to find that Therese was no longer standing beside her, but was half way across the aisle, walking briskly toward the back of the library.

Puzzled, she gingerly placed the magazine back on the shelf and followed the younger woman to the far back corner of the library. Therese abruptly turned into a different aisle and Carol, right behind her, found that she had been led to a rather isolated portion of the building.

"This is my favorite spot in the whole library," Therese spoke softly, avoiding eye contact with Carol. Instead, she focused on delicately caressing the spines of old encyclopedias and tattered, out of print novels. "There's something about this… solitude that I find very comforting. You know, I'm very content with being on my own, but I do get lonely sometimes." Therese tilted an old book of poems off the shelf and into her hands. "I remember this one day… I was about nine. I was sitting in the library and my mother had just visited me the night before—"

"Therese, sweetheart, you don't have to tell me anything." Carol knew that Therese hated talking about her mother, it was evident in the way her brow would knit together and her mouth would twist into a deep frown.

But Therese shook her head and continued, "I was sitting in the library and I heard these two people giggling. I was curious as to what they found so funny, and I decided to follow the sound of laughter. When I rounded a corner, I found this couple kissing. I was shocked to see something so… inappropriate in a library, but I couldn't stop watching. I didn't know what it was that I was feeling at the time, but I understand now that it was desire. Intimacy has always been so foreign to me." Therese placed the book back on the shelf and gave her full attention to Carol. "My mother wasn't the most affectionate person, when she would hug me it felt like more of an obligation than an act of love.

"So when I saw those two people kissing I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to have someone want me. What would it be like to like someone so much that you wanted to sneak off in the middle of the library to kiss them?" Therese's eyes were glassy with tears, and Carol had the irresistible urge to reach out and intertwine their fingers. "What would it be like to stop feeling so lonely?"

"Oh, angel," Carol sighed and stepped closer to Therese. She raised her hands to Therese's shoulders and squeezed them tightly. She watched as Therese's eyes fluttered closed, and couldn't help but appreciate the girl's youthful beauty. _You're too young to have felt such sadness,_ Carol thought as her hands glided slowly up Therese's neck to cup her face. "I think it feels like this." Carol pulled Therese toward her and kissed her softly. She smiled into the kiss when she felt Therese rock towards her ever so slightly.

Therese inhaled deeply and wrapped her arms around Carol's waist, reveling in the texture of Carol's tweed jacket beneath her hands. Their embrace lasted only a few moments longer before Therese pulled away, her cheeks rosy and her dimples visible. "I love you."

"I love you too, dearest." Carol smiled and wiped some of her lipstick from Therese's mouth. "How about we find that book Dannie told you about and then we head home." She took a step back and adjusted her jacket and ran a hand through her curls, returning to the elegantly poised Carol Aird. Therese nodded and grinned, so thankful for this older woman who seemed to know just what to say and do. It would be a long time before Therese ever felt that deep loneliness again.


	6. Carol's First Photo

This minific is in response to an ask I received from an Anon the other day: "What would be the first thing Carol took a photograph of? You know from her Kodak brownie. (Obviously it would be Therese. But would Therese shy away like Carol does or would she not even be aware of it happening? Would Carol tell her to face the camera and smile or just capture the moment when Therese's attention is away and beyond?)"

* * *

Therese locked herself away in the makeshift darkroom all morning, developing several rolls of films she found under the sink the night before.

"Carol, I don't even remember what's supposed to be on these!" Therese had exclaimed, turning the film canisters around in her hands, looking for any sort of date or clue as to when they were used.

"I guess you'll be having a busy morning tomorrow." Carol had smiled at the sight of Therese's eagerness and had kissed her twice on her dimpled cheeks.

Carol, taking after Therese's focused work ethic, spent the majority of the morning speaking on the phone with new clients from the furniture store. She figured that getting a head start would mean she could come home at a decent hour during the work week, and actually have time to sit at the dinner table and laugh with Therese about the day's events. Over the past couple of weeks, Carol had been working endlessly, travelling to various stores looking for just the right pattern on a sofa or just the right grain of wood on a night stand.

 _These people are so… particular._ Carol leaned back in her chair with a huff, and began fiddling with her pen cap. Amongst all the parchment and furniture catalogues strewn across her desk, there were only three cigarettes in her ashtray (Therese was trying to get her to quit completely), an empty glass and pitcher of water (Therese vowed hydration kept one's skin clear and fresh), and remnants of a club sandwich (Therese made them for lunch the day before and they hadn't eaten them because Carol told her she was hungry for, well, something else entirely). Carol chuckled to herself, recalling how Therese had reluctantly pulled away from their embrace in order to put the sandwiches in the fridge. "So we can at least eat them later!" She had said and gazed at Carol's mouth for a moment longer before running back to the kitchen.

"Carol!" The sound of Therese's voice jarred her from her daydreams. "Can you come here, please?"

"In a minute!" Carol sat up to finish jotting down the description of a 1930's desk lamp that a Mr. Neilson insisted would complete his office set and then stood, heading toward the guest bathroom. Finding the dark room empty, she called out, "Therese?"

"Over here." Therese's voice echoed down the hall from their bedroom. When Carol stepped through the doorway she saw her partner sitting at the edge of the bed, a photo in her hands.

"What's this?" Carol asked as she moved toward Therese and sat down next to her. "Another embarrassing photo of me?" Her voice was light, on the brink of laughter as she nudged Therese gently with her shoulder.

"No, actually." Therese's hands were still damp as she brushed her hand over the back of the photo paper. "It's a, um, it's a photo of me and Rindy."

She flipped the photo over and there it was: an image of her and Rindy, standing on the balcony of the apartment. Therese was looking down, her dimples visible as she smiled widely at Rindy who was pointing to the sky, probably explaining how one of the clouds looked just like a turtle she had as a class pet last year.

"This was on the first roll I developed." Therese placed the photo in Carol's hands. "It was also the first negative."

"Oh, Therese," Carol whispered in awe. "This was the first picture I took on that camera you gave me!" She sighed, her eyes beginning to fill with tears. "I didn't think it would come out; you know how I am with cameras."

"It's wonderful, Carol." Therese's voice held so much sincerity in it that Carol choked back a sob. "Why're you crying?" Her brow furrowed in worry as Carol brushed away her tears.

"I love you so very much." Carol gripped Therese's hand tightly, anchoring herself to the one person she trusted most. "I love you and Rindy so much and," she took a deep breath to steady her wavering voice, "and I finally have a picture of the two of you—together. My girls."

Therese felt her heart clench tightly at Carol's words. Her soul felt so deeply for this blonde woman she wasn't sure she would ever have the language to express it. "Love" didn't quite encompass all that she felt, didn't quite fill the grand expanse of space that was Carol. So, she leaned her head on Carol's shoulder, and smiled when she felt the weight of Carol's head on hers. "Let's get a frame for it. We can put it in the living room."

"I would like that. I would like that very much." Carol turned her head, placed a kiss at Therese's hairline and recalled a time when Therese was playing at her piano all those years ago. _I never thought I'd be this happy back then. I never thought I could feel so whole,_ Carol thought as Therese nuzzled her neck. They sat there together in silence, content.


	7. Shall We Dance

A/N: I received an Anon message asking, "Can you maybe do a fic on Therese playing something for Carol? or teaching Rindy how to play?"

* * *

Harge had become more lenient throughout the year, and was allowing Rindy to sleep over one entire weekend out of the month. Carol and Therese always made the most of it, taking trips to the park, going to the cinema, and one time even taking a drive to Niagara Falls (this led to Rindy overflowing the bathtub that night in an attempt to recreate the experience, much to Carol's dismay; Therese had made sure to take several photos of the incident). Every Sunday morning before Harge picked up Rindy, Carol would make breakfast while Therese and Rindy sat at the upright piano tapping away at the keys. Therese had taken to teaching the young girl how to read music and Rindy had taken to spending time alone with Therese.

One summer morning, Carol went out to buy a copy of the Sunday paper, leaving Therese and Rindy to their own devices. Therese was sorting through photo negatives at the coffee table when she heard the soft pattering of feet on the carpet.

"Mommy?" Rindy called out, her voice comically raspy from sleep.

"Good morning, sleepyhead." Therese stacked the negatives neatly and started to get up from the couch. "Mommy went out, she'll be back soon. Would you like something to drink?"

"No, thank you," Rindy replied with impeccable manners for a five-year-old at half-past ten in the morning.

"Okay. Do you want to play at the piano?" Rindy had learned how to read music at an alarmingly fast pace. Her sense of rhythm was steadily improving, as was her ability to play with both hands at the same time.

"Yes, please. Will you play with me, too?" Rindy asked, sounding a little more awake at the thought of getting to make music with Therese.

"Of course!" Therese laughed and made her way over to the piano. She ruffled Rindy's hair when the girl was within reach and the young girl lovingly hugged Therese in response.

After about five minutes of playing scales and messing around by playing only the black keys Rindy stopped suddenly and turned to Therese. "Why are you always with Mommy?"

"What?" Therese's fingers froze on the keys, and the ringing of the overtones matched the buzzing in her head. "What do you mean, Rindy?"

"You and Mommy are always together, like how Aunt Abby and Mommy used to be." Rindy looked inquisitively at Therese.

Therese brushed her fingers lightly across the keyboard, thinking of how to respond in the simplest way possible. She and Carol had discussed the possibility of Rindy voicing her curiosities, and had never come to a clear decision on how they would approach the subject. "I'm with your Mommy because—because I love her very much."

Rindy continued to stare intensely at Therese, searching her face for any hint of deception. Therese anxiously waited for a response; trying not to appear too unsettled, she placed her hands gingerly on her lap. "Okay. I love Mommy a lot, too." Rindy nodded in approval of Therese's statement, scratched an itch on her nose and then said, "Do you know how to play that song Mommy really liked from the _King and I_?"

Therese felt that she was going to get whiplash from the way the young girl switched topics. Last month, after Harge dropped off Rindy one Friday evening, she and Carol decided to take her to see a musical on Broadway. They got the last three tickets for the _King and I_ (Carol had been running behind, as usual) and Rindy had been captivated by the colorful costumes and intricate set. After the show Carol had not been able to stop humming "Shall We Dance?" and had lifted up her daughter on several occasions so that she could swing her around, singing slightly off-key.

"I think I do." Therese scrunched her eyebrows together in concentration. "Can you sing it for me, just to refresh my memory?"

Rindy nodded wildly and began to sing softly, "Shall we dance, bum bum bum, on a bright cloud of music shall we fly, bum bum bum…"

Therese laughed loudly at Rindy's interpretation and then started to play the melody on the piano. Once she figured it out, she started to fill in the chords with her left hand. "Yes, that's it!" Rindy exclaimed gleefully. "Can we surprise Mommy with that when she gets back? She doesn't smile as much when Daddy comes to pick me up, and I don't want to make her sad."

Therese had forgotten how perceptive children were; she'd forgotten that even though children didn't have the words to describe the world around them, they still felt and perceived everything. "Of course, Rindy. I don't like seeing her sad, either."

Satisfied by Therese's words, Rindy hopped off of the piano bench and started moving towards the kitchen. "Could you make me some toast, please? Mommy always ends up burning it a bit. I like the way you do it."

Therese couldn't keep the smile off of her face as she followed Rindy to the kitchen to make some breakfast for the both of them.

Therese was just finishing up her own piece of toast when she heard keys jingling at the door. Rindy whipped her head towards Therese and whispered, "Can we play it for her now?"

Therese nodded, wiped the crumbs off of her hands hurried over to the piano.

"I'm sorry I took so long." Carol sighed dramatically as she closed the door behind her. "I passed by a client from the store and he just wouldn't—Rindy! Good morning!"

"Mommy! Therese and I have a surprise for you!" Rindy ran to her mother and pulled eagerly at her hand. "Come to the piano!"

"And what have I done to deserve such a thing?" Carol's voice was filled with amusement as she let her daughter tug her along to the living room. "Good morning, darling," she said upon seeing Therese at the keyboard.

"Good morning." Therese smiled sweetly at Carol and then nodded at Rindy as she began to play the opening chords.

Rindy grabbed her mother's other hand and began swaying them back and forth as she sang the chorus to "Shall We Dance?". Carol threw her head back with laughter and sang along with Rindy, helping her with the lyrics. Therese beamed at the sound, glancing away from her hands every so often to watch as Carol spun Rindy around in the air and dipped her dramatically.

Rindy wrapped her arms around her mother's neck and whispered in her ear, "Therese says she loves you very much, Mommy."

Shocked, Carol lost her rhythm for a bit and asked, "And what do you think of that, sweetheart?"

Rindy pulled away from her mother to look in her eyes. "I think that she's very nice and I hope there's always space for you two to be in the same room."

Carol pulled Rindy back to her chest, placed a kiss to the side of her head and softly said, "I hope so, too."


	8. Mrs Belivet

Unbeknownst to Therese, for the past five months Carol had been signing her name as _Carol Belivet_. She had received some looks from customers at the furniture store, but they all respected (and feared) her too much to ask any questions. Prior to putting it down on paper, Carol had spent mornings in the shower testing the flow of the name on her tongue. She would be lathering her hair and whispering "Carol Belivet" and she would feel the girlish urge to giggle at the sound of it. She imagined herself as a love-struck school girl with a crush on the prettiest girl in class. Quite frankly, she was surprised she hadn't dropped Harge's name as soon as Therese had come back to her at the Oak Room.

It was coming up on a year since that fateful moment at Frankenburg's, and to celebrate, Carol was taking Therese ice-skating. While Carol was greatly looking forward to the experience, the younger woman was skeptical.

"Oh, I don't know, Carol… I can be rather clumsy on solid ground. I can't imagine what I would look like on ice," Therese had said as she looked over the ad in the newspaper.

"Don't be silly, Therese." Carol gently swatted at the paper, startling her partner. "You're a fast learner, you'll pick it up in no time."

The younger woman pouted for a moment and scrunched her eyebrows together in thought. "Okay. I'll go—if you promise not to laugh at me if I fall."

Carol let out a chuckle and picked up her dirty coffee mug to put in the sink. "I promise I'll do my best not to."

And that's how Carol ended up stifling a guffaw as she watched Therese squat down so low her butt was almost touching the ice.

"Therese, honey, I know you're trying not to fall, but you're not even really skating." Carol was practically skating circles around her partner, who was moving at a snail's pace across the ice.

Therese huffed loudly in response and tried to straighten her legs, but as soon as she started moving any faster than a car in neutral, she dropped back down to the ice. "I haven't done this since I was a kid." She stuck her arms out in front of her to maintain balance. "The ground didn't seem so frightening when I was only three feet from it."

"Here, hold my hand and I'll make sure you don't fall." Carol skated up to Therese's side and stretched out her hands.

Therese briefly glanced at her partner's hands, quickly looked back at the ice, and then gazed around at everyone else. The rink was large and not very crowded; people of all ages were skating. There were a handful of people that seemed to be practicing alone, several couples held hands as they explored the rink, and there was a group of grade-school children all giggling and shouting as they tried to race each other and inevitably toppled over onto the ice.

Therese worried at her bottom lip. "But—what if someone…?" Her gaze flickered nervously to some bystanders at the edge of the rink.

"It's okay, no one will think anything of it." Carol bent down to reach for Therese's hand. "And if anyone does, they'll take one look at you and know that you're holding onto me because you're terrified of falling flat on your face."

Therese, her face already tinged red from the cold, blushed and grabbed Carol's hand. As she began to stand up straight, she clutched Carol's forearm with her free hand and held onto her partner with a vice grip. She heard Carol inhale sharply, and Therese swiftly apologized. Carol smiled at her sweetly in response. "Just breathe, Therese."

They circled the rink several times as Carol showed her how to properly move her feet so that she could skate across the ice on her own. There were a couple of stumbles along the way, and a young boy who was skating backwards almost knocked Therese over because he wasn't paying attention.

About a half hour later, after Therese had gained the confidence to free Carol's hand from her death grip, she began to skate behind the younger woman and watched as Therese truly started to enjoy the freedom of ice skating.

"Oh, Carol!" Therese called out as she pushed off the ice and sped past an older couple who were moving at a leisurely pace. "This is fantastic!"

Carol laughed heartily, and felt her chest warm with affection for the young woman whose dimpled smile could light the night sky. "I'm glad you're enjoying it!"

As Therese skated farther and farther ahead of her, Carol thought about how much lighter she felt. The weight of Harge no longer bore down on her shoulders, and the risk of losing Rindy no longer kept her up every single night (although she still had nightmares of her daughter abandoning her, Therese was always there to comfort and ground her). This Christmas season was so much more joyful than it was a year ago, and Carol felt as though she were a different person. _And I guess I am,_ she picked up her pace to catch up with Therese.

"You ready to go? I think I'm ready for lunch." Carol skated to Therese's side and placed her hand gently on her lower back.

Therese turned to her and grinned widely. "Yes, my stomach has been growling at me for the last ten minutes."

As they returned their skates to the booth, a young man came up to them with a clipboard in hand. "Good afternoon, ladies. Do you mind taking a survey rating your experience at the ice rink?"

Therese smiled politely at the young man and opened her mouth to respond, but Carol beat her to it. "No, not at all."

"Okay, great!" The young man dug in his pockets for a pen and flipped through the papers on his clipboard before asking, "Okay, could I please have your first and last name?"

Without a moment's hesitation, she responded, "Carol Belivet."

Therese's head whipped around to look at Carol, whose face had flushed red. As many times as she'd said it out loud to herself in the shower and signed documents as _Carol Belivet_ , Carol had yet to introduce herself as such.

"Okay, Mrs. Belivet, could you please rate your experience on a scale from one to ten?" The young man, oblivious to the sudden energy shift between the two women, fixed his gaze on his clipboard.

"Yes, of course." Carol took a deep breath to clear her head as she brushed her hair out of her face, and proceeded to answer the man's questions.

All the while, Therese stared at her, completely dumbfounded. Even after the survey, as they walked to the car, Carol sensed that her partner was still processing what had happened. Carol felt uneasy about Therese's silence, it had been a long time since she had to ask the young woman what she was thinking. She worried that maybe she had overstepped a boundary, maybe Therese thought it silly that she would ever say something like that and was trying to find a way to gently let Carol know never to say it again.

During the short ride to their apartment, Carol nervously spoke of Rindy and Abby, hoping to distract Therese from her deep thoughts.

"Abby is still seeing that redhead, you know. She tells me they're going to spend the holidays together." Carol glanced quickly over to Therese, who was staring out the window.

"I'm glad to hear Abby is happy." Carol frowned at Therese's brief response, and had the nearly irresistible urge to smoke.

It wasn't until they had removed their gloves and hung up their coats that Therese turned to Carol, her jaw set and her eyebrows scrunched together, and said, "Did you mean it?"

Carol, in the middle of taking off her shoes, froze. She quickly regained her composure and put her shoes by the door where Therese stood. Carol took a deep breath, took her partner's hands in her own, and whispered, "I have been signing my name as Belivet for months… and I've been saying it to myself for even longer." She grazed her thumbs over Therese's knuckles and pulled her closer. "I truly meant it."

Therese's face remained tense in thought. Carol felt anxious as she waited for Therese to say whatever it was that was going on in her head. Did she hate the idea of Carol changing her last name? Was it too much? Should she have asked for permission? Carol was on the verge of a breakdown when, suddenly, Therese's face relaxed and she was beaming, dimples in full force.

"Mrs. Belivet," Therese said with a laugh. "Is this what a man feels like when their wife takes their name?

Carol felt relief flood through her entire body. "Therese Belivet, are you asking me to be your wife?"

Therese blushed and brought Carol's hands to her lips. "I think I am."

Carol let out something between a laugh and a sob, wrapped her arms around Therese and kissed her full on the mouth.


End file.
